Equality of Men and Women in Succession: An Assessment of Islamic Rules

Abstract

Generally it goes that a Muslim man receives greater portion than that of a woman of the same grade and degree under classical or modern Hanafi Muslim rules of succession; e.g., where a son and a daughter survive the propositus the son receives two-thirds and the daughter one-third. So it is generally claimed that a Muslim man inherits greater share than that of a woman. But such allegation may not be the fact always. An assessment of the arrangements of succession in Hanafi School shows, in this regard, that under the School a woman receives larger amount than a man. Both primary and secondary sources are used in the study. The primary source includes the Quran or Hadith, and secondary source different books, journals, etc. Only Hanafi Islamic school rules of succession are addressed, rules of no other schools like Shafii, Hanbali, Maliki, etc. are included. Practically, the study shows that Muslim women inherit more than Muslim men. Socially, the study removes the notion of the thinking that Muslim men receive more than Muslim women in inheritance. The study is an original piece of work.